What is Maintenance under the Jones Act?

What is Jones Act Maintenance?

These are common questions for our Jones Act lawyers:

What is Jones Act Maintenance?

Am I entitled to maintenance?

What is maintenance?

Under General Maritime Law and the Jones Act, you - - that is, a Seaman or Crew Member of a vessel or an identifiable fleet of vessels - - have some basic rights if you are injured either while in the course and scope of your employment or while on a cruise or voyage.

You don’t have to show fault, negligence or an unseaworthy vessel in order to be eligible for maintenance and cure.

Maintenance:

"Maintenance" is the daily compensation that you are entitled to receive if you are injured while on a voyage or in the service of a vessel. It is intended to provide the food and lodging that would have been provided if you were not hurt and still aboard the vessel.

You are entitled to receive maintenance during the time while you are receiving medical care and before maximum medical improvement. A low maintenance rate is one of the two main reasons why injured Seaman and/or Jones Act Seaman call our office.

Too often, employers, vessels owners, and/or insurance companies set some arbitrary low maintenance amount. Say, $8.00 a day. The rational is, "That is what we always pay." Or, "That is what some of the Union Contracts specify."

The law does not set some arbitrary amount. Instead, the law states that the vessel must pay you maintenance at a rate that would cost for you to live on land in the same manner you lived offshore on the vessel.

There are main factors which determine your maintenance amount. First, what was the manner you lived aboard the vessel? Second, what does it cost you to live in a similar manner ashore while you are receiving medical care and before maximum medical improvement?

In order to prevail at trial you will need evidence of both of these factors. First, try and take photographs of your cabin or stateroom or bunk aboard the vessel. Second, keep all the receipts of rent, mortgage, food, transportation, trips to the doctor, etc. You need all of this documentation from the time you are injured until you are released by your doctor (maximum medical cure or maximum medical improvement). You will need all of this evidence.

You don’t need to accept an arbitrary low maintenance rate

We hear it all. "We only pay $10 a day." "The Union Contract only calls out for $8 a day." "We have always paid $9 a day." We have heard it all. We are usually successful in getting employers, vessels and/or insurance companies to raise their maintenance rate. The law protects you. However, you must exercise your rights correctly.


What is Cure?


Additional Jones Act information:

What is a Jones Act case?
The Jones Act

Who is a Jones Act Seaman? (Seaman Status)

What is Jones Act Maintenance and Cure?
What is Maintenance under the Jones Act?

What is negligence under the Jones Act?
What do you have to prove in a Jones Act negligence claim?

What is unseaworthiness?
How does the law define unseaworthiness?
How do I prove the vessel was unseaworthy?

If you are a seriously injured Jones Act Seaman, how are you going to support your family?
Some Jones Act “truths”
Are you a Seaman with a Personal Injury Claim or the family of a Seaman with a Death Claim?